Chapter 3
Chapter Three
“Mallory! Wait up!” Sadie called later that morning as she hurried across the lobby, earning frowns from the Bigs who were in sight.
Mallory stopped at the entrance to the Ranch store and gift shop to wait for the resort owner’s wife.
She was running out of toiletries and needed to restock.
She was also debating buying herself a big chocolate bar to celebrate her impending birthday.
She would also use it to console herself for having been at Rawhide for almost four months without meeting a man she could see herself submitting to.
“Slow down!” one Big hissed while another said, “Walking feet, little one.”
Sadie ignored them, not slowing down until she tried to slide to a stop in front of Mallory. Only problem was she underestimated her stopping ability and slammed into her. Which sent Mallory staggering back in an effort to keep them both on their feet.
“Whoa, there, sweethearts,” a deep voice said behind her as strong arms wrapped around them both. He managed to keep them all from falling to the floor.
The voice combined with strong arms around her body, his masculine scent, and the big, muscular body caused Mallory’s brain to glitch. She froze for a moment, unable to speak, move, or think, which only added to the embarrassment of being thrown into the man.
“Wow, that could have hurt,” Sadie said as she straightened and stepped out of Mallory’s embrace. She smoothed her shirt then looked at the man Mallory was still leaning against. “Oh hi, Master Fletcher. It’s a good thing you were there, otherwise we might have broken Mallory’s butt.”
Though she was pulled to turn around and snuggle into the man’s embrace, Sadie’s words made Mallory wish for a hole to open in the floor and swallow her whole.
But of course, no hole was forthcoming.
Taking a deep breath, Mallory breathed in the man’s scent and released a sigh as she straightened and forced herself to step away. His spicy, woodsy aroma had her pussy clenching with a need she had not felt in years. Without a glance at the man, she turned toward the store’s doorway.
“Thank you for catching us,” she whispered before trying to hurry inside the store without looking at him.
Only the man’s hand wrapping around her upper arm stopped her before she could escape.
“Are you all right, pet?” he asked in a deep, deep, dark voice that reminded her of one of her favorite country singers.
Keeping her head down and her eyes focused on the floor, she nodded.
“Words, please,” he said, his voice still gentle, but a bit more demanding.
“I’m fine, Sir. Thank you for catching us,” she whispered, her gaze still directed at the floor.
“Can you look at me, bunny?”
Mallory’s breath caught in her lungs for a moment as her entire body froze. She wasn’t sure she wanted to look at this man after falling into his arms as she had. But she could also hear the dominant tone in his deep voice which demanded compliance, so she lifted her gaze to stare at his chin.
Sadie took their near fall in stride. “Master Fletcher, this is Mallory Blackstone, service submissive and great cartoon drawer-er.”
Mallory glanced at the fiercely bold Little with a gaze that should have had her running for cover. Instead, Sadie rocked back and forth, looking rather pleased with herself.
“Hello, Mallory Blackstone,” Master Fletcher said as he slid his hold down her arm.
She raised her gaze to his as he embraced her hand and shook it twice.
He was gorgeous but appeared to be in his thirties.
Way too young for her to be involved with, even though her body was reacting to his touch and voice in a way it had never responded to anyone before.
Not even her husband had evoked such a strong, instant reaction.
But Master Fletcher was too young for her and, therefore, off limits.
After swallowing, she whispered, “Hello, Sir. Um, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”
Easing her hand from his, she slipped past him and into the store.
She needed to do her shopping for essentials, but after the past few minutes, decided she would indeed get the biggest chocolate bar they had in stock.
It would be a reward for not melting to a puddle on the floor and begging Master Fletcher to order her to do anything.
“Mallory? Mallory!” Sadie caught up with her in front of the toiletries trying to decide which shampoo most matched the one she used at home. “Are you okay?”
Mallory didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she grabbed a bottle of every sample-size shampoo on the shelf before moving to the toothpaste to grab three of them as well.
“Mallory?” Sadie followed her as Mallory consulted the shopping list on her phone. “I’m sorry. I got a little excited. I didn’t mean to run into you. Or for us both to run into Master Fletcher. But that’s a good thing.”
Though Mallory wanted to ignore the other woman, Sadie’s excitement had her stopping to study her. “What are you talking about?”
“Daddy wanted me to invite you for lunch at the Big House.”
“Why?”
“Why? What do you mean why?”
“Why would Master Derek invite me? I haven’t done anything remarkable to earn his attention. Or have I missed something and he’s going to yell at me?”
Sadie’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “No, no, no, no, no. Nothing bad. Tomorrow’s your birthday.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Well, um, he wanted to invite you to see if you had a special wish for your birthday tomorrow. Yeah, that’s it,” Sadie said as she shifted from one foot to another.
She looked so nervous that Mallory had a feeling being invited for lunch at the Big House meant more than a simple meal with the boss.
But she was feeling a bit down at not having anyone to celebrate her birthday with, so maybe this would be a good thing. With a sigh, she relented. “What time?”
“Noon. Do you want me to send someone to walk you over?” Sadie began to bounce in place, obviously excited about something that she wasn’t willing to share with her.
“No, thank you. I think I can find my way,” Mallory said as she fought to suppress a grin at the Little girl’s excitement.
“Okay, we’ll see you at noon,” Sadie said before bouncing out of the store.
Oh, to be young and excited about everything. Maybe that should be her birthday wish, though she couldn’t remember a single time over the years when any of her birthday wishes actually came true.
“Don’t eat too much of that at one time or you’ll give yourself a stomachache,” Becky, the cashier, pointed to the half-pound bar of dark chocolate as she rang up Mallory’s purchases.
“I won’t,” Mallory said as she accepted the bag and walked out of the store.
On her way back to her shared suite on the second floor, her thoughts moved ahead to what she should wear to have lunch at the Big House with her boss and his wife.